Oyedele Denies Labeling Tax Law Fake — Says Claims Of Altered Provisions Did Not Originate From House Committee

The Chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Taiwo Oyedele, has denied reports suggesting that he described the tax regulation currently in circulation as fake, saying his comments were misrepresented.

Oyedele made the clarification on Wednesday while speaking on ARISE Television’s Morning Show, following claims that key provisions of the tax law had been altered.

He explained that during a media interview, a reporter drew his attention to differences between sections of the law as published in the official Gazette and a harmonised version attributed to the National Assembly, asking whether the discrepancies amounted to alterations.

According to Oyedele, prior to that interview he had come across reports alleging that several sections of the law were substantially altered, with the impression created that the claims originated from a House of Representatives committee investigating the matter.

However, he said he became suspicious after noticing that one of the cited sections did not exist in the Gazette. He disclosed that he contacted a lawmaker said to be on the investigating committee, who told him that the committee had not even met.

He said:

“First of all, in your opening comments — and I’ve seen this quite a bit over the past couple of days — it has been reported that I said the regulation in circulation is fake. That is not what I said.

I was granting an interview, and the reporter displayed a section of the law in the Gazette and then a similar section quoted in the harmonised version by the National Assembly, and asked whether that was an alteration.

Before then, I had seen reports claiming that several sections were substantially altered, and those reports gave the impression that they came from a House of Representatives committee investigating the matter.

I noticed that one of the sections cited did not exist in the Gazette, so I contacted a lawmaker on the committee to clarify. He told me the committee had not even met.

So apparently, some people decided to write what alterations they thought were made, and these did not come from the investigating committee. Some people even did graphic designs on top of it.

My response was that it would not be productive to discuss alleged alterations when we do not know their source, and certainly when they did not come from the House committee.

Some people then reported this as me saying the Gazette in circulation was fake. That is not what I said.”